The Sun. — London, England, 1864-06-21 00:00:00

(Front the Times Correspondent.) SOUTHAMPTON (Monday). The English steam-yacht Deerhound, belonging to Mr. John Lancaster, of Hindley-hall, Wigan, Lancashire, arrived here last night and landed Cap. tain Semmes (commander of the late Confederate steamer Alabama), 13 officers, and 26 men, whom she rescued from drowning after the action off Cher bourg yesterday, which resulted in the destruction of the world-renowned Alabama. From interviews held this morning with Mr. Lancaster, with Capt. Jones (master of the Deerhound), and with some of the Alabama's officers; and from information gleaned in other quarters, I am enabled to furnish you with some interesting particulars connected with the fight between the Alabama and the Kearsage. The Deerhound is a yacht of 190 tons and 70- horse power, and her owner is a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes and of the Royal Mersey Yacht Ciub. By a somewhat singular coincidence she was built by Messrs. Laird and Son, of Birkene head, and proof of her fleetness is furnished by the fact that she steamed home from the scene of action yesterday at the rate of 13 knots an hour. On arriving at Cherbourg at 10 o'clock on Saturday night, by railway from Caen, Mr Lancaster was informed by the captain of his yacht, which was lying in harbour awaiting his arrival, that it was reported that the Alabama and the Kearsage were going out to fight each other in the morning. Mr Lancaster, whose wife, niece, and family were also on board his yacht, at once determined to go out in the morning and see the combat. The Alabama left Cherbourg harbour about 10 o'clock oa Sunday morning, and the Rearsage was then several miles out to seaward, with her steam up ready for action. The French plated ship of war Couronne followed the Alabama out of harbour and stopped when the ve sse l s were a league off the coast, her object being to see that there was no vio lation of the law of nations by any fight taking place within the legal distance from land. The combat took place about nine miles from Cherbourg, and as there are some slight differences (as might naturally be expected under the circumstances) in relation to the period over which it lasted, and other matters, it may be well here to reproduce from Mr Lancaster's letter in the limes of this morning the subjoined extract from the log kept on board the Deerhound : Sunday, June 10, 9 aan,—Got up steam and prcceeded out of Cherbourg harbour. 10.30.—Observed the Alabama steaming out of the harbour towards the Federal steamer Kearsage. 11.10.—The Alabama commenced firing with her starboard battery, the distance between the contending vessels being about one mile. The Kearsage immediately replied with her starboard guns; a very sharp, spirited firing was then kept up, shot sometimes being varied by shells. In manoeuvring both vessels made seven com plete circles at a distance of from a quarter to half a mile. At 12 a slight intermission was observed in the Alabama's firing, the Alabama making head sail, and shaping her course for the land, distant about nine miles. At 12 30 observed the Alabama to be disabled and in a sinking state. We immediately made towards her, and on passing the Kearsage were requested to assist in saving the Alabama's crew. At 12 50, when within a distance of 200 yards, the Alabama sank. We then lowered our two boats and, with the assistance 'of the Alabama's whale boat and dingy, succeeded in saving about 40 men, including Cap tain Semmes and 13 officers. At 1 p.m. we steered for S , ,,athampton. One of the officers of the Alabama names the same hour—viz., 11 10, as the commencement of the action, and 12 40 as the period of its ce3sation, making its duration an hour and a half; while the time observed on board the Deerhound, which is most likely to be accurate, that vessel being free from the excitement and confusion necessarily exists ing on board the Alabama, limited the action to an hour, the last shot being fired at 12 10. The dis tance between the two contending vessels when the Alabama opened fire was estimated on board the Deerhound at about a mile, while the Alabama's officer tells me she was a mile and a half away from the Kearsage when she fired the first shot. Be this as it may it is certain that the Alabama commenced the firing, and as it is known that her guns were pointed for a range of 2,000 yards, and that the second shot she firsd, in about half a minute after the first, went right into the Kearsage, that may be taken as the real distance between the two ships. The firing became general from both vessels at the ilistance of a little under a mile, and was well sustained on both sides, Mr. Lancaater's Isnpresslon being that at no time during the action were they less than a quarter of a mile from each other. Seven complete circles were made in the period over which the fight lasted. It was estimated on board the Deerhound that the Alabama fired in all about 150 rounds, some single guns, and some in broadsides of three or four, and the Kearsage about 100, the majority of which were 11-inch shells. Ttie Alabama's were principally Blakeley's pivot guns, In the early part of the action the relative firing was about three from the Alabama to one from the Kearsage, bat as it pro. greased the latter gained the advantage, having apparently a much greater power of steam. She appeared to have an advantage over the A labama of about three knots an hour, and steam was seen rushing out of her blowpipe all through the action, while the Alabama seemed to have very little steam on, At length the Alabama's rudder was disabled by one of her opponent's heavy shells, and they hoisted sails; but it was soon reported to Captain Semmes by one of his officers that his ship was sinking. With great bravery the guns were kept ported till the muzzles were actually under water, and the last shot from the doomed ship was fired as she was settling down. When her stern was completely under water Captain Semmes gave orders for the men to !eve themselves as best they could, and every one Jumped into the sea and swam to the boats which bed put off' to their rescue. Those of them who were wo unded were or d ered b y Captain Semmes to be placed in the Alabama's boats and taken on board the Kearsage, which was as far as possible obeyed. Captain Semmes and t h ose above-mentioned Were saved in the . Deerhou n d' s boats, and when itwas ascertained that the water was clear of every one that had life left, and that no more help could be rendered, the yacht steamed away for Cowes, and thence to this port. The Kearsage, it is known, has for some time past been in hot pursuit of the Alabama, W h ich vessel Captain Winslow was determined to follow everywhere till he overtook his enemy. Very recently she chased and came up with one of the vessels of the Chinese expeditionary force re. turning to England, and ran alongside with her guns pointed and crew at quarters before she could be convinced of her mistake, for the expeditionary vessel was very like the celebrated Confederate cruiser. The Kearsage was then described as likely to prove a formidable overmatch for tho Alabama, having higher steam power and ra':e of speed, a crew " nearly double " that under Captain Semmes, and, unlike her sister ship the Tuscarora, carrying 10, instead of eight, very heavy 11-inch shell guns —the so-called Columbiads of the American navy. The Alabama, on the contrary, is stated to have had only two heavy rifled guns and six broadside 32- pounders. The Confederate, too, after her long cruise, was sorely in need of a refit. Part of her copper, it is said, was off, and her bottom was co vered with long weeds. The crew of the Alabama comprised in all about 150 when she left Cherbourg. Of these 10 or 12 were killed during the action, and a number were known to be drowned, the difference between these and the number b rought home by the Deerhound i being, its hoped, saved b y the boats of the Kear sage, or some French pilot boat s w hi ch were in the 'f:;e Frenca War vessel Couronne did not come out beyond three miles. T he surgeon of the Alabama was an Engli.9'Jman, and, as nothing h,B been heard of him eine° he went below to dress the wounds of some of the sufferers, it is feared Chat he Went down with the ship. The Presidential Contest in America. BALTIMORE, June 6, An Englishman in New York, unless he be a lord or a Dissenting minister, with Republican " procli vities," and strong opinions on the subject of negro slavery, finds few friends. He is an alien, an enemy, a person ignorant of everything but the unimpor tant concerns of his own little island ; and one who is supposed on the stage, in the newspapers, and in such cultivated society as the pace affords to inva riably misplace his aspirates, and to call himself a " Hinglishman." It is very different in Baltimore. To be an Englishman is to be furnished with a perpetual passport to the good will and favour of everybody of any note in the place —except the military governor and his subordinates—who hold the city by the strong hand, and repress in every possible way the opinions and feelings of the inha bitants. The Baltimoreans are proud of their Eng lish descent, their English manners, their English hospitality, and their English sympathies. If ever they have an ill word to say against England, it is because they are angry with the British Govern merit for not having recognised the independence of the S outh, and so expedited their own deliverance from the No r th ern U n i on. They take care, however, to distin guish betwe en th e peop l e and the Govern, ment in the blame which they cast npon Lord Rus sell and Lord Palmerston, and look forward to the day, long though it may he in coming, when the mother country and her Southern children—more truly hers than the mixed breed of Europe that have peopled and overrun the 'North —shall be united, B n et alone in sympathy, but in commercial and poli alNnleswhoYttOaltimore loves the Eng rk hates th em, and hopes, when free trade with En gland sh a ll f ollow the s much as re cognition of the South, to become one of the first commercial cities of the American continent, and to rival New York in influence and i hospit al i ty. Bal timore is as inimical to all that s Yanke e as Rich mond or Charleston, and were it n not for th e presence of a la rge m ili tary f orce , w h ic h is in possession of Fort M'Heury, and could reduce the city t o ashes in an hour, if it threatened to revolt a g a inst the depotism w hi c h i t a b hors, i t wou ld hoist the Con. federate flag, and invite the Southern army to enter and hold it. Maryland, of which it is the pride and the emporium, has at this moment no less than 20,000 of h er sons i n the Southern army, fighting, without the inducement of bounty money or any, . merzenery consid e r at i on w h atever, for the cause o f Southern Independence ; about double the number that she has raised for the Northern armies, not withstanding ail th e b ount i es o ff t.red by the Federal Government and the manicipaliries, and the sums contributed by the rich to avoid the risk of a con scription. The 20,000 are for the most part natives of Maryland; the 8,000 or 10,000 in the Federal army are mainly Irish or Germans, with whom the bounty is everything and the cause nothing togeth„er with negroes and the freed slaves of ‘4 dis h-Tat. owners. The ladies of Baltimore, renowned as being the handsomest in America, a tradition of olden time, which the passing glanco of the stranger The wounded men on board the Deerhound were carefully attended to until her arrival here, W h en they were taken to the Sailors' lime, in the Canute -road. Several of the men are more or less scarred, but they are all out about the town to-day, and the only noticeable case is that of a man who was wounded in the groin, and that but slightly. Captain Snarnes, and his first.lieurenant, Mr. J. Kill, are staffing at lc,i w r i f s H ote !, i n Queen's- THE NAVAL ACTION BETWEEN THE terrace, where the gallant commander is under the ALABAMA AND THE KEARSAGE, care of Dr. Ware, a medical gentleman of this town, his right hand being slightly splintered by a shell. When the men came on board the Deerhound they had nothing on but their drawers and shirty, having been stripped to fight, and one of the men, with a sailor's devotedness, insisted on seeing his captain, who was then lying in Mr. Lancaster's cabin in a very exhausted state, as he had been intrusted by Captain Semmes with the ship's papers, and to no one else would he give them up. The men were all very anxious about their captain, and were rejoiced to find that he had been saved: They appeared to be a set of first-rate fellows, and to act well together in perfect union under the most trying circum. stances. The captain of the forecastle on board the Ala bama, a Norwegian, says that when he was in the water he was hailed by a boat from the Kearsage, " Come here, old man, and we'll save yo u ;" t o which he replied, " Never mind me, I can keep up half an hour yet ; look after some who are nearer dro wning than I am." He then made away for the Deerhound, thanking God that he was under English colours. Throughout the action the Deerhound kept about a mile to windward of the combatants, and was en abled to witness the whole of it, The Kearsage was burning Newcastle coals, and the Alabama Welsh coals, the difference in the smoke (the north country coal yielding so much more) enabling the moves ments of each ship to be distinctly traced. Mr. Lancaster is clearly of opinion that it was the Kear sage's 11-inch shells which gave her the advan tage, and that, after what he has witnessed on this occasion, wooden ships stand no chance whatever against shells. Both vessels fired well into each other's hull, and the yards and masts were not much damaged. The mainmast of the Alabama had been sruck by shot, and as the vessel was sink ing broke off and fell into the sea, throwing some men who were in the maintop into the water. Some tremendous gaps were visible in the bulwarks of the Kearsage, and it was believed that some of her boats were disabled. She appeared to be temporarily plated with iron chains, &c. As far as could he ssen everything appeared to be well planned and ready on board the Kearsage for the action. It was appae rent that Captain Semmes intended to fight at a long range, and the fact that the Kearsage did not reply till the two vessels got nearer together showed that they preferred the short range, and the supe rior steaming power of the latter enabled this to be accomplished. It is remarkable that no attempt was made by the Kearsage to close and board the Alabama, and when the Alabama hoisted sails and made as if for the shore the Kearsage moved away in another direction, as though her rudder or screw was damaged and out of control. Great pluck was shown on both sides during the action. On board the Alabama all the hammocks were let loose, and arrangements had been made for sinking her rather than she should be captured. As far as is known, not a relic of the Alabama is in the possession of her successful rival, When she was sinking Capt. Semmes dropped la's own sword into the sea to prevent the possibility of its getting into their hands, and the gunner made a hole in one of the Alabama's boats and sank her for the same reason. Before leaving the Deerhound Capt. Semmes pre. sented to MrLancaster's son one of his officer's s words and a pistol in remembrance of the occurrence and the kind treatment he and his men had received on board the yacht. The men stated that the best practice generally on board the Alabama during the action was shown by the gunners who had been trained on board the Excellent in Portsmouth har bour. The spectacle presented during the combat is de scribed by those who witnessed it from the Deer hound as magnificent, and thus the extraordinary career of the Alabama has come to a grand and appropriate termination. The presence of the Deerhound on the scene was a providential circumstance, as in all probability the men saved by her would otherwise have been drowned, and a lamentable addition would thus have been made. to the number of lives lost on the occasion. Nothing is known here respecting the Kearsage or her subsequent movements. She was in command of Captain John Winslow, and had about the came nuun er of officers and es the A 1.1-arna_ Tha navy list describes her its 1,031 tons register, and carrying eight guns, being two guns less than the To:c irora mounts, to which in ail other respects the Kearsage is a sister ship, The Tuscarora will be romem Dere I as the Federal ships of war that some two years and a half ago lay at this port watching the Nashville. Several of the Alabama's officers row here were attached to the Nashville on that occasion. The Alabama's chronometers, specie, and all the bills of ransomed vessels are saved, having been handed over to a gentleman at Cherbourg before she left that port. Mr. Mason , the Confederate agent, Capt. Bullock, and the Rev. Mr. frcmlett arrived by the four o'clock train this afternoon from London, and pro ceeded to Kelway's Hotel to meet Capt. Semmes. Captain Semmes and all the men are now placed under the care of Mr. J. Wiblin for such medical attendance as may be required. THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVEN Uonvention, agreeable as it h as proved to Mr Lincoln, is notthe only affliction of the kind he will have to endure. The supporters of a an opposition candidate—but whether it be Gen. Fremont, or Mr Chase, or a greater or less than either whose name is yet to be divulged—resolved to forestall him even in Balti more, and several days ago engaged the large hall of the Maryland Icstitute for this evening (the 6th), paying the price demanded in advance. So quietly was the matter managed that when on Friday last Mr. Lincoln's " wire pullers" made ap plication for the hall, expecting no difficulty, they found to 4 heir chagrin that it was pre -engaged, and that t'ae Lincoln Convention ran the risk of being hwaseless and homeless. In this emergency they made application for the Front -street Theatre, which is capable of accommodating from 3,000 to 4,000 persons, and succeeded in obtaining it. At the time at which I write no one seems able to pene trate the mystery of to-night's Convention, and as this letter must be posted before the proceedings commence, the mystery must, as far as I am con cerned, remain unsolved until my next. The con sequence of this unusual state of affairs is that Bal timore swarms, not alone with delegates to the two Conventions, but with " wire pullers," "log rollers," " axe grinders," and other trading and professional politicians, who have a purpose to serve by the suc cess of one or other of the candidates. Hotel or boarding house accommodation is difficult to be ob tained, except by those who took the precaution to bespeak beds a week ago, and the price of board and lodging has been raised about 500 per cent. by the hotel keepers, by whom a Convention is consi dered their harvest and opportunity ; during the existence of which such a thing as a conscience is not thought of, however suggestively it may prick, and when such a word as extortion is banished alike from memory and the dictionary. Baltimore, however, is much too near the seat of war to be wholly engrossed with the contest for the Presidency, and feeds itself upon rumours, true and false, from the armies of Grant and Lee. Every hour produces a new story, which the next hour neither confirms nor disproves—stories tinged, if not wholly invented by the wishes of the story tellers, and which much oftener speak of disasters than of victories to the Federal cause. From General Grant's despatches to Mr. Stanton —of which the War Secretary only publishes such por tions as are favourable to the Federal army, or serve to keep up the spirits of the Northern people— it is evident that no general action had taken place up to Saturday, the 4th, and equally evident that such action was imminent from hour to hour, And at a time like this, when every man is of value, it seems strange and unpatriotic —at least to an Eng lishman's eyes—that whole regiments of hardy veterans should leave the front to return to their homes, and wash their hands of the war and of all that belongs to it. Yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, while the bells were ringing for afternoon service, the sound of the drum and fife, followed by the air of the " Star Spangled Banner," played by a full military band, was heard in the street. Opening the window and looking out upon Monument-square, I find the place full of soldiers. Thinking it was a reinforcement for General Grant, 1 descended into the square a n d m i xe d w i th the crowd of spectators. I soo n l earnt that these hardy, sun-browned, and dirty-lo o ki ng veterans were the Pennsylvania re serves, who were not rushing to the battlefield to crush the rebellion, but rushing from it, bscause their time had expired. Thtir numbers were said to be upwards of 4,000, though it afterwards appeared that they were less than 2,000; that they formed the sole remnants of 12 regiments, originally of the full complement of 1,200 men each, or 14,400 i n all; that they had enlisted for three y ears i n t h e f i rst flush of the excitement that followed the Confede rate attack on Fort So-oter that they had fought Burnside, d au with and G Hnoeork ; in all the battles of INl'Dowell, M'Clellan, P ope, i had crossed th e pi; Grant, that they fought under hi s or d ers e tr a.t the Wilderness and Spottsyivania Court-house, marched with him in his long. and dangerous circuit from Spotty-slvania to the Chickahominy, and that as he walks along the streets is sufficient to confirm, are even more "rebellious" than their fathers, brothers, husbands, or lovers, as ladies are wont to be in all parts of the world where the passions are excited by political strife. They have a habit in their pleasant climate of sitting after nightfall upon their " stoops," or marble door step, in preference to their drawing rooms, in the full, or it may the scanty, elegance of their evening costume, to gossip, or sing, or knit, by the light of the moon. And while, as now, a battle is supposed to be raging in their not very remote vicinity —a battle or series of battles which may decide the fate of North and South, and point the way that Maryland must ultimately go—and when, with a favourable wind, it may even be possible, in the silence of the night, to hear from afar the faint echoes of the artillery of the contending hosts, they gather in this primitive fashion, with more than the usual excitement of expectation, to keep up the rebellious spirit by the interchange of sentiment and the outpouring of their hopes and fears. Now and then may be heard, in defiance of the lazy, but perhaps the not altogether unsyrnpathizing, police man who saunters along his beat through the fashionable quarters of the town, the melancholy chant of " Maryland, my Maryland," sung to the air of a German Burschenlied ; the livelier strain of the " Bonnie Blue Flag," or to English ears the nobler melody of " God save the South." Like the ladies of Scotland, commemorated in the ancient ballad, who sat with their " gold combs in their hair" and their fans in their hands, waiting for the return of Sir Patrick Spens, they sit upon their doorsteps waiting for General Lee, or any other Southern hero who will be good enough to take their city in his victorious march to Washington, and liberate them, once and for ever, from the dull, leaden, obdurate, relentless tyranny which General Butler inaugurated, General Schenck continued, and General Wallace perpetuates, These three attorneys, having nothing of the soldier about them but the uniform and the shoulder -straps, have severally and collectively managed to concentrate upon their heads an amount of feminine hate from Baltimore and all ►laryland which, in default of historical record, will be sufficient to send down their names to a late posterity with as much odium as that which attaches to " old Bogy" in all the nurseries of Europe. It is in a city with a character like this that the friends of Mr. Lincoln determined to hold the Cons vention to nominate him for a second term of office, and to this city I have come from New York to be present at the first process of the quadrennial manufacture, the ultimate result of which is a Pre sident of the United States. It is not to be sup posed that in this respect Mr. Lincoln's friends run any risk of the expression of hostile opinions, or still less of an adverse decision on the part of the people among whom they thrust the preten sions of their candidate. A convention is like a Parliament. No one has a right to speak, ex cept a member duly elected, If the public be admitted to the deliberations, it is a matter of ex pediency and favour —not of right ; and any objector or disturber may be summarily expelled. In Balti more, however, there is ecareely the risk of so much as a dissentient hiss or an ironical cheer. The native residents will ❑ot attend, even cut of curiosity, and there is a sufficiently large population of placetnen, contractors, officials, and persons who directly or indirectly are making money out of the war, as well as of Federal soldiers quartered in the neighbouring forts, to make it certain that the Convention will not lack an appreciative audience. Mr Lincoln's friends intended to forestall opposition in the Pre sidential contest by being first in the field, but they had no sooner announced their time and place than the supporters of Gen. Fremont took what the Lin colnites call a " mean advantage," and summoned a Convention at Cleveland, in Ohio. Here they built their platform, called themselves by the new name of the " Radical Democracy," and unanimous nomi nated their candidate a full week before Mr Lincoln's friends could be brought together. The main plank s of the platform do not, it is true, dovetail very squarely ; for a vigorous prosecution of the war and a vigorous preservation of the liberties of the people nre more incompatible than Americans understand, or care to acknowledge ; they may serve, however, to elect a candidate upon, and , if so , they will an..? et- General Fremont and the Presidency. General Fremont has addressed the following reply to the committee of the Cleveland Conven tion accepting the nomination for President : " Gentlemen—ln answer to the letter which I have had the honour to receive from you on the part of the represen tatives of the people assembled at Cleveland on the 31st of May, I desire to express my thanks for the confidence which led theta to offer me the honourable and difficult position of their candidate in the approaching Presidential contest, Very honourable, because in offering it to me you act in the name of a great number of citizens who seek above all things the good of their country, and who have no sort of selfish interest in view. Very difficult, because in accepting the candidacy you propose to me I am exposed to the reproach of creating a schism in the party with which I have been identified. Had Mr Lincoln remained faithful to the prin ciples he was elected to defend, no schism could have been created ; and no contest could have been possible. This is nut an ordinary election; it is a contest for the right even to have candidates, and not merely, as usual, for the choice among them, Now, for the first time since '76, the question of constitutional liberty has been brought directly before the people for their serious consideration and vote. The or dinary rights secured under the Constitution and the laws of the country have been violated, and extraordinary powers have been usurped by the Executive. at is directly before the people now to say whether or not the principles established by the Revolution are worth maintaining. It; as we have been taught to believe, those guarantees of liberty which made the distinctive value and glory of our country are, in truth, inviolably sacred, then there must be a protest against the arbitrary violation, which had not even the excuse of necessity. The schism is made by those who force the choice between a shameful silence or a protest against wrong. In such considerations origi nated the Cleveland Convention. It was among its ob jects to arouse the attention of the people to such facts, and to bring them to realise that while we are saturat ing Southern soil with the best blood of the country, we have in the country the abures of a military dictation without its unity of action and vigour of execution; an administration marked at home by disregard of consti tutional rights, by its violation of personal liberty and the liberty of the press, and as a crowning shame, by its aban donment of the right of asylum —a right especially dear to ' all free nations. Abroad its course has been characterised by a feebleness and want of principle which have misled Euro pean powers, and driven them to a belief that only commer cial interests and personal aims are concerned, and that no great principles are involved in the issue. The admirable conduct of the people, their readiness to make every sacri fice demanded of them, their forbearance and silence under the suspension of everything that could be suspended, their I many acts of heroism and sacrifices, were all rendered ft uit less by the incapacity, or to speak more exactly by the per sonal ends for which the war was managed. This incapacity and selfishness naturally produced such results as led the European Powers, and logically enough, to the conviction that the North, with its greatly superior population, its im mense resources, and its credit, will never be able to recover the South. Sympathies which should have been with us from the outset of the war were turned against us,and in this way the Administration has done the country a double wrong abroad, It created hostility, or at best, indifference among those who would have been its friends if the real intentions of the people could have been better known; while at the same time neglected no occasion for making the most humiliating concessions. Against this disastrous condition of affairs the Cleveland Convention was a protest. The prin ciples which form the basis of its platform have my unqua lified and cordial approbation, but I cannot so heartily con cur in all the measures which you propose. I do not believe that confiscation extended to the property of all rebels is practicable, and if it were so I don't think it a measure of sound policy. It is a question belonging to the people themselves to decide, and it is a proper occasion for the exercise of their original and sovereign authority. As a war measure, in the beginning of a revolt, which might ba quelled by prompt severity, I understand the policy of confiscation—but not as a final measure of re construction after the suppression of an insurrection. In the adjustments which are to follow peace no considerations of vengeance can consistently be admitted. The of ject of the war is to make permanently secure the peace and happiness of the whole country, and there was but a single element in the way of its attainment. This element of slavery may be considered practically destroyed in the country, and it needs only yeur proposed amendment of the Constitution to make its extinction complete, With this extinction of slavery the party divisions created by it have also disappeared ; and if in the history of the country there has ever been a time when the American people, without regard to one or another of the political divisions, were called upon to give solemnly their voice in a matter which involved the safety of the United States, it is assuredly the present time. If the Convention at Baltimore will nominate any man whose past life justifies a well-grounded confidence in his fidelity to our cardinal principles, there is no reason why there should be any divi sion among the really patriotic men of the country. To an 3 such I shall be most happy to give a cordial and active sup. port. My own decided preference is to aid in this way, and not to be myself a candidate. But if Mr Lincoln should be renominated, as I believe it would be fatal to the country to endorse a policy and renew a power which has cost us the lives of thousands of men, and needlessly put the country on the road to bankruptcy, there will remain no alternative but to organize against him every element of,conscientious opposition with the view to prevent the misfortune of his re-election. In thi s con ti ngenc y I accept the n om i nat i on at Cleveland, and, as a preliminary step, I have resigned my commission in the army. This was a sacrifice it gave me pain to make. But I had for a long time fruitlessly endeavoured to obtain service. I make this sacrifice only to regain liberty of speech, and to leave nothing in the way of discharging to my utmost ability the task you have set for me. 'With my earnest and sincere thanks for your expressions of confideneo and regard, and for the many honourable, terms with which you acquaint me with the actions of the cornmitt:e.—l am, gentlemen, very respect. fully and truly y ours , "J, C. FEEXO NT . "New York, June 4." Persons in debt may obtain instant protection against imprisonment or seizure of their goods, and an entire release from all debts and liaLilities without publicity, by application to Messrs. Marshall, solicitors of the Court of Bankruptcy, Charges under £5 payable by easy instalments. Offices— (established 1830),12, Hatton-garden. City branch -6. Moor gate-street, Bank.—AnvT. [ADVERTISEMENT ]-1101loway's Ointment.—All varie ties of ulcerations, bad legs, sores, wounds, and eruptions can be cured by the diligent use of this cooling, soothing, and healing unguent. The old and often failing fashion of strapping the edger of ulcers together with plaster has en tirely given way before the more reasonable treatment by Holloway's Ointment, which builds up from the bottom of the wound with sound and healthy granulations ; these gra dually grow till they reach the level of the surface, then contract, harden, and immediately become covered with a new and wholesome skin, The proper application of this ointment diminishes the inflammation, causes the unhealthy, discharge lirst to grow thick, then to cease, when the swell ing disappears, and the natural shape is restored, their time having expired some days previously, they had left his army on the Ist of June and marched two days from the front to the White-house ; , Nite!lre they were conveyed in steam tmntports to Wash ington, and thence again by rail to this city, on their way home Their battered banners, as well as their tattered clothes, bore witness to the work they had performed, and the hard service they had undergone, and as they marched through the crowded streets it was impossible not to admit that 20,000 new recruits, even if not composed of Irish and German mercenaries, could not make amends to General Grant for the loss of 2,000 such fine fellows as these, seasoned to war, inured to hard ships, and who had, moreover, the additional merit of having enlisted for pure love of the cause, at a time when bounty money was not considered a provocative of heroism. No cheers greeted them as they passed, footsore and weary, along the dusty way; and net oven the members of the Lincoln de legation who crowded the balconies and doorsteps of Barnum's Hotel to witness the spectacle so much as clapped a hand or waved a handkerchief to wel come the returning braves. Was it because they stuck tee closely to their bargain to merit the appro bation of the true patriots and able wire-pullers who desire Air. Lincoln's re-election ? Not so; for there portion o f th ese 2 ,000 men —amount. s 60 tihgehljonfg, thet B hin a c r o n lu u m m ns, or 60—wh o b roug h t up the rear of men —amount ing was abou one t who no soon er came w i t hi n balconies than the suppressed cheers of the Lincoln delegation broke forth, and the hands clapped and the handkerchiefs waved in a storm of delight. It may also be asked if these 60 or 60 had determined to return to the battlefield which their comrades had abandoned ? They had not, They were on their way home like the rest, and were about to turn their swords into ploughshares, their spears into pruning hooks, and to study war no more. Then, of course, their names were familiar to Mr. Lincoln's friends and supporters for their deeds of heroism ? Wrong again. They were merely negro teamsters, waggon-drivers, and trench-diggers, who had borne some of the shock and all the hardships of the campaign, and who received a greeting denied to their white comrades, solely because their skins were black. No one, not hardened by inveterate prejudice, would deny the negro any merit, in peace or war, that was justly his due; but to honour him, independently of his merit, and solely on account of his colour, is quite as much a prejudice as that which formerly held, and in most parts of the country stil holds, him as a social pariah for the same reason, NG, JUNE 21, 1864, RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE, SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. RAILWAY BILLS. Yesterday the committee on the East London Railway Bill visited the London Docks ; and took Survey the site and route of the int en d e d ra il way, so as to form, in, con junction with the evidence adduced, an opinion on the question. Mr Rendel, the engineer of the London Dock Company, was examined at great length by Mr Phinn, Q.C., and Mr. Karslake, on the engineering objections to the line, and as to the advantages of another proposed line to be substituted. Mr Hawkshaw, the engineer, was sub sequently examined, and expressed an opinion adverse to the safety of the Thames Tunnel for railway purposes. Apart from its danger as an experiment, he was of opinion that the price the company would have to pay for the ap propriation of the tunnel would be suf f icient to construct a new one. Mr Rodwell, Q.C., stated the case of the Cannock Chase and Wolverhampton Railway of ten miles between those places, to make arrangements with the Great Western, raise £lOO,OOO, and £34,000 by loan. Mr Merewether and Mr H. Lloyd opposed for the London and North-Western. The committee of which Mr Hassard is chairman con sidered the Bill for the Tewkesbury and Malvern Railway, to take additional lands and raise a further sum of £lO6 000. IN:lr Round having been heard for landowners in opposition, the committee threw out the Bill. Further evidence as to the traffic case connected with the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Company's pro posed establishment of steamboat communication with the continent occupied Sir F. Goldsmid's committee all day, The clauses of the Glocester and Ledbury, and Worcester, Dean Forest, and Monmouth Railway Bills were settled. In the Lords, the Bill of the London and South-Western for additional works was passed. a House of Commons in a state of agitat_on..Bo; TIM Di Gladstone rose to suggest that as Mr. ES.—ln th e great cr i s i s at wh i ch the country are perfectly helpless when they have to i deal v has now arrived it i s natural that the leaders o f the questions were of considerable importance be she Opposition should see k to l earn r the authenticity e• ' • • - s put them on the paper for to-day. Mr. P. 13 •- rumour that has reached them ;itis e 11 qaa y eVee, _ -der the circumstances in asking tt . ‘ l ;nisters natural that ee.._ • who know how warily they justified nee rep Ld, amidst the cheers of the house, that . Then Mr. Bernal Osborne int must take every step, ..ehould shrink from utter- without notice. - in his zeal for his Gera ing a word which may inter,., with the irre- versed. That gentlemee, by the unmeaning vocable decisions any day may reqn•.7 of the," clients, had been alarmed mark of Earl Russell that the ca ll e d upon was fully These considerations expl a i n t h e li ttle de b ate ared for any services it might be ,:_eote wo c Conference in the House of Commons yesterday, i? which showed the Conservative leaders more than render. He wanted to know whetherhe; usually peremptory, and their Ministerial opponents were only anther idle threat, or whet ry , t u s. quite as evasive as, usual. The truth is that every vernment intended to commit the con h n e t would one who cares to inquire can learn the main inci- with Germany. The Chancellor of t ile r's' heq u dents which have marked the last few sittings of the was unable to offer any explanation. Indeed, ' Conference, and the Premier was unwilling to enter presume to answer such a question. the matt into details which could hardly be separated from hinted that he knew nothing about , Gee that lker . an explanation of the future designs and policy of Mr. Seymour Fitzgerald observed t „ now sit the Government. We can well admit that it is stone, as a member of the Cabinet, must . e; rd jo t the duty of an Opposition, when such rumours had taken place oa Saturday; and -b of t h e Gi are abroad, to endeavour to obtain for the country Manners said that if only one memb e r seal i re, the most complete and truthful information possible; vernment was competent to reply to e fe re but all that is necessary to be known had already tions he ought to have been peesent. hiller-Line, been given to the world in the statement that at the sury Bench had by that time become e et , the last meeting of the Conference, on S a t ur d ay, t h e Th e P rem i er was sent f or , an d by cs e o f whic British Government, in accordance with the resolu- singular coincidences is the fortuitousne,s`„, , , hoer tion come to at the Congress of Paris in 1856, pro - c hild ren an d o ld women b e li e ve, enteren " a l o id! posed to refer the disputed boundary bet ween t h e just as Lord John Manners decl ared, t hee two German Powers and Denmark to the d ec i s i on genera l c h eers , t h a t h e oug ht to have b een the oeoa t of a friendly arbitrator. It is difficult to c once i ve a Th e P rem i er, h owever, was enla- alto case in which this principle of arbitration mi g ht b e s i on ;it h a d b een arranged that no forie oa r more fit:y applied. As a general rule w e h ave littl e s h ou ld b e g i ven, an d he took care to gipe_tion, tb faith in it. Where there is a clear, definite issue He explained, for Mr. ,Osborne's edifl ea do i t aos between the two parties—something that both can significance of Lord Russell's words in w°r selle -tb understand and do perfectly understand—something identical with those employed by Earle Ru s ruerit wil that touches national honour or national existence— fleet is quite equal to anything the G n „ ft g rea it is of little use to send the matter before an aehit ea _ ask it to do—and he declined, although. Vi c " Thee tor. To think of referringsuch a question as the union regret, to answer Mr. I)israeli's questrn° B 4, B Dee( between England and Ireland, or the right of the was, it seems, an agreement made—kept„--tha Federals to invade the Confederates is plainly net say with great strictness by a.. partiesbe wa d i absurd. The parties would never commit their what passed in Conference should to t e of coax dearest interests to the judgment of any man or public, and it would therefore be a breach of in it or Cabinet; and if they could be brought to consent, dente on his part to say what took pla t h to se) it is certain that the party decided against would be Saturday. But he was considerate W a g_ oo San' irresistibly tempted to repudiate the award. Bat that, as the suspension of hostilities expire s °n t ime in this case there is no similar difficulty. It is just day next, if it is not prolonged before that iota' such a question as may be examined by a competent war will recommence on Monday- 1 , Pl e f th e his duty authority and fairly solved. It is one of detail, and mation which it seems he reconciled it Hone' nothing more. It has been agreed on both sides to the Conference to give, and for which t,henoto, that the principles which should guide the decision of Commons must have been devoutly t ent lea' are the prevalence of the Danish or the German Such is the fashion in which the Gev ernm Aithovg b population in such and such districts of the Duchy, tures to treat the House of Commons. . i n the and the securing of a convenient frontier between the issues of peace or war are now h ae g itl 'easf be the Germanic Confederation and what would then balance, and 'in a few days the countrYrace a nd become Denmark Proper. There is nothing in committed to . a coarse which may disg e gle• t he dispute but the nationality and language of certain degrade it, or involve it in a gigantic ar il :l ces tbs districts, which can be easily ascertained by inquiry, Ministry refuse to give its represente"eioatioa and the districts then partitioned accordingly. A slightest information, or afford the faintestnre d o or frontier line capable of serving as a barrier as well of their intentions. When the mischiefbi deter' as a limit between the two countri es ma y a l so b e when t h e po li cy of the country i s i rr evoes : os in drawn by any Sovereign or statesman who makes mined, the support of the House of Com m h e oolie u himself acquainted with the country. All that is be invited. Treatment like this might, "ministri„ to be done is to decide how a debatable zone of by the house if it could believe that tue cp+ ash thirty miles in width, inhabited by a mixed popu- had really determined upon a course of P Eagli'" lation, shall be disposed of. That any Govern- were unitedly seekin the vindication of e, s oon meat should prefer the chance of war to the honour and interests ;but when it is ke"rthe pro" judgment of an impartial arbitrator on such a it is matter of as public notoriety as blast ' question is hardly to be believed. If, however, ceedings of the Conference, that the for poet that should appear to be the case—if Prussia and divided, and that one section is anxiou s , a Jill' Austria, which were actually parties at Paris to the at any price, whilst another, witt, prefer, enunciation of the principle, reject it on the first gering sentiment of honour, would al o f A ll occasion that it can be advantageously applied—it even war to a disgraceful peace—this reftistreat the will indeed appear that viole n c e an d a mbiti on n o t i n f orma ti on i s i ntolerable. The ministry 15 only bear down the d e f e n ces o f wea k St a t es , but re- House of Comm ons as if it h a d abdicate d , het pudiate the humane c o n c l us i ons a t w hi c h th e great t i ons, an d t h e H ouse of Commons, b y its BP-. i ßa thy t tb ° Powers have arrived with regard to the government countenanced the impertinent assumption. trie d too of Europe. It is said that the proposal of arbitra- temper of the house and the country ma; be i ee soa t ° tion was referred by the respective Plenipotentiaries much, and the scene of yesterday will be B A br od . to their own Governments, and that to-morrow they the Premier, if he has Lot lost the tact ar1",,, t3 woul d will annonnce their decision. To-morrow, then, we ness which once distinguished him. If caree r are likely to know whether this last chance of peace not have an ignominious termination to " e ,t s ue' between the contending parties is to prove fortunate. which, with all its great faults, has been It, with The matter rests principally with Prussia, for it is cessful and most popular, he must deal frall'e',. but not likely that Austria, if left alone, will refuse any Parliament, and not only deal with it hi ll ; Vona fair proposition for concluding a war in which she adapt his policy to the spirit which anitneb e ' d Ger' has no direct interest, and the continuance of which the countrye The war between Denmark an s 9 the exposes her to the gravest dangers. It would be many will break out again on MondaY• u ° ° wets pleasant for us if we could express a confident ex- English Government gives the Germ an woul d pectation that the G erm an Powers would Shaw plainly to understand that in that war theY.,. An d themselves wise and moderate at the eleventh hour; have to contend with England. L et Austria to to but the past behaviour and present temper of the Prussia understand that, and they will be e g ; iii Prussian people do not encourage a belief that they take that part of Schleswig which Denmark will yield. There is, it is said, a violent war fever at posed to yield. Berlin, an exultation which is caused by the conquest of Duppel, and which makes those sub ject to it look upon their officers as pre-eminent in skill, their soldiers as models of spirit and courage. While, then, earnestly desiring that better counsels may prevail at Berlin that some memories of international justice and of his own declarations to England six months since may induce M. von Bisrnark to refrain from the schemes which he has adopted from Bavaria and Saxony, it is-we think time that this country should mak e up its mind what its course must be if all its nrprtores are rejected, all its advice despised, and the unhappy people in whose behalf it has acted still remain the victims of German violence and ambi tion. To-morrow the Conference meets—it may be for the last time. Oa Monday next, if in the mean time no feelings of humanity or prudence prevail, the war will begin again. On that day, assuredly, new extortions will be made in Jutland, new prepa rations will probably be made for carrying the war into the Islands, and no doubt the first political act of the Allies will be to declare the whole of Schleswig and Holstein permanently severed from the Danish Kingdom and erected into an independent soya reignty by right of conquest. Together with these wrongs to Denmark,there will be a demonstration of defiance and derision towards ourselves. All the patience and courtesy of the last half-year will be ascribed to weakness. The speeches of our stater. men, the cheers of our House of Commons, the articles in our newspapers, the manifest sympathy with Denmark evinced by all classes of society will be taken to show that we are earnestly bent on something which the vigour and boldness of the German rulers pre'ented us from attaining. Nor can we be surprised th,:.‘t foreigners should take such a view when Englishmen can hardly refrain from it themselves. The humiliation; and the consciousness of failure which afflict the public mind aro the mea sure of the exultation of those whose policy has pre vailed so completelyover our own. No Ornew who knows what has passed can fail to see that it this country allows the Danish war to begin again, and - to be carried to such an end as the German allies propose, not only a grievous wrong will have been perpe trated in Europe, but the just influence of England —an influence always of late years used in defence of freedom and national independence—will be seriously impaired. It is evident from the language, and still more from the reticence, of Ministers that they deeply feel the importance of the present crisis, and are convinced that they can retain power only by upholding the dignity of the country. What their first acts may be we cannot presume to pre dict. But this is plain—that since England in her capacity as a first-class State and a party to the Treaty of 1852 entered into these transactions, and was recognised by the belligerents as having claims and interests of her own, we have now a right to demand the forbearance of the two German Powers. Whether it be prudent or not to interfere at once, whether Schleswig, or a part of it, could be deli vered by British aid, are political or military ques tions which will require anxious consideration. In the meantima we think that a suspension of diplo matic relations should be the immediate result of the rejection of our last proposition for peace, There can be no benefit in being represented at Courts which have treated England with such contumely. When this step is taken the Government will be able to determine in what way material effect may be best given to the protest on which they may have resolved. HERALD.—The House of Commons witnessed a scene last night for which even the most indefati gable searcher into parliamentary history can find no precedent. The members of the house had heard from different sources accounts which, although not official, were apparently authentic, of the proceed ings of the Conference on Saturday. They had been informed that at that meeting the belligerents maintained pretensions which were utterly irrecon cileable ; that the English Government, abandoning again a position upon which it had professed its re solve to take its st an d, h a d m ade a proposal wh ich was virtually rejected by all parties, although no minally accepted ad referendum; that the represen tatives of the German Powers indulged _ _n in the most unseemly threats against Denmark in thevent of e and gland, and even announced their int ention, the resumption of the war , to issue letters of ma rque in defiance of the engagement not to do so w hi ch they made eight years ago at Paris. The members flocked to the house to ascertain from the responsi ble Ministers of the Crown whether these grave an nouncements were correct. The leader of the Op position rose at the time which the custom of the house has consecrated to such inquiries, to ask whether the Prussian Minister had made the threat attributed to him, and whether hostilities would recommence on the 26th, in the event of the Conference breaking up on Wednesday. He put his question without any comment; he made no effort to exploit" the painful situation against the Ministry he gave them an opportunity of which men ; conscious of the rectitude of their conduct and resolved upon their policy would have g ladly availed themselves. But the Ministry were deter m i ne d not to give any informat i on, and they thought that the best way to refuse it was to keep the Premier out of the house, and pretend that nobody else could answer a question Upon such an important subject. The Premier, there fore, was kept out of the house, but in its neigh bourhood, so that if the "dodge" should not answer he could come to the assistance of colleagues who GREAT EASTERN. The scheme of the Great Northern consisted of a conneo tion between their loop line at Gainsberough with Doncas ter, so as to establish the route from Doncaster to Peter• borough by the circuitous line via Lincoln, Boston, and Spalding; and, secondly, by a system of single disjointed loop lines, ostensibly destined for local accommodation, but really devised in order to block up the district and prevent the establishment of a superior direct through route. Taking Cambridge as the common point of concentration to and from the Great Eastern district, the distance to Doncaster by the Great Northern loop line was 17 miles greater than by the proposed line. It was urged that the new lino would tend greatly to in crease the profit on the capital of £20,000,000 already ex cl.aat Eastern aratpnr, Tt nppaared that the committee did no t consider it fair towards the Great Northern for the proposed line to a have a maximum fare of one farthing per ton per mile, while the Great Northern required a farthing and a half per ton per mile to pay them. If the Great Northern had the same gradients, well and good; but as they had not got them and could not get them, except at a very large expense, the committee thought it right to reject the Great Eastern Northern J unction Bill. But, at the same time, the committee inserted facility clauses in the Great Northern Bills with a view a view to enable Great Eastern Company to run over the lines of the Greet Northern Railway to Doncaster, if they thought pro per to do so. The directors state that no amount of facilities could ever give to the Eastern Counties district the advan tages of a line 17 miles shorter, with flat gradients, neither could any amount of facilities give to Central Lincolnshire the advantage of having their district served by a grea through line of railway. They also state that every one con versant with the working of railway traffic was well aware that those facility clauses under such circumstances were neither more nor less than "a mockery, a delusion, and a snare." The directors could nat believe that Parliament would finally refuse to sanction a scheme which offered to the public the advantage of the best and cheapest trunk line which had yet been devised between the North of England on the one hand and the Eastern Counties and eastern dis tricts of the metropolis on the other. PE RNA.SIbUCO. The adjourned half-yearly meeting of this company was held yesterday at the London Tavern, Mr it. Benson in the chair. The Secretary having read the notice of adjournmen and also of en extraordinary meeting to be held immedi ately afterwards, The CMAIRMAN said the half -yearly meeting had been adjourned to that day in the hope that something definite in the meantime might Le received frora the Government respecting the guarantee, but nothing had been received from the Government in respect of the extension of the guarantee. There had been two mails from Brazil since the half-yearly meeting was held, and they had been informed by their agent that the finance committee of the Chambers, to whom the matter had been referred, had reported in favour of the extension of the guarantee to the company, and the question was now before the Chambers for their sanction. He had therefore nothing further to communicate about the extension of the guarantee, and he would proceed with the extraordinary meeting, which had been convened for the purpose of confirming certain alterations in the deed of settlement which had been agreed to at the last meeting. He then moved a formal resolution confirming the altera tions in the 92d clause of the deed of settlement from the Ist of February and the let of August of each year, to the 30th of June and the 31st of December in each year, as the dates in future for making up the accounts. The motion was seconded. The CHAIRMAN, in reply to a question, said they could not pay any more interest until they got the money from the Government, or until the Government gave them the increased guarantee. The capital account was now closed, and the directors could not pay the shareholders more than they received. Mr GOEI wished to know whether the guarantee was to be extended in proportion to the increased outlay. He sup. posed that the alteration of the dates for making up the ac counts and holding the future meetings of the company was to enable the directors, before holding the meetings, to as certain the dividend due to the shareholders after paying expenses, and to declare it accordingly. The CHAIRMAN said that no amount had been finally fixed, but the Government had agreed to recommend to the Chambers that the guarantee should be extended to £85,000 a year. The matter had been investigated by four Govern ment officers, and the Minister had agreed to lay that amount before the Chambers for its sanction. The Cham bers might reject the proposition or approve it, but the Session would not close until the 7th Sept. next. The alteration of the dates was, as the hon. proprietor supposed, for the convenience of the company. The resoluion was then unanimously adopted. On the motion of the CHAIRMAN, seconded by Mr. GOBI, a formal resolution confirming the repeal of the 38th clause of the deed of settlement and authorising the ordinary general meetings of the company to be held in future in the months of April and October of each year was unani mously adopted. In reply to a question, it was stated that one reason for the dividend on the last occasion being only 2/ per cent. was that the working expenses had exceeded the receipts, but this was not likely to occur again. The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks to the chairman aid directors. A HINT TO VOLUNTEERS WHO ARE BENT UPON GOING to COURT.—As there continues to be a belief that gentlemen have a right to be presented at levees in virtue of their being volunteer officers, we may state positively, and from the best source of information, that no such right exists. Volunteer officers must be eligible for presentation for other reasons than their volunteer rank. The matter was decided in the spring of 1800,—Court Journal. The directors of this company have issued a statement to ho shareholders respecting recent proceedings before a committee of the House of Commons on the Great Eastern Northern Junction Bill. The proposed line was intended to start from the Great Eastern line near Cambridge in a northern direction, passing near Peterborough, Bourn, Slea ford, Lincoln, Gainsborough, and Doncaster to Askern, where it would form junctions with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, the North-Eastern system, with the South Yorkshire coalfields, and with the new line from Don caster to Hull. It would also join the Midland Railway at Peterborough, and the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln system at Lincoln, thus forming the most direct access to the Eastern Counties, as well as a large and populous dis trict in the eastern part of the metropolis. The proposed main line and branches were 134 miles in length, and the total cost was estimated at £1,500,000, or less than £12,000 per mile. The gradients throughout were only lin 400, being so favourable as to enable an engine to draw nearly double the load that could be carried over the existing Great Northern Railway between Doncaster and London---400 tons and upwards against 240 tons. It was proposed that the new line should carry the 400 tons at a farthing per ton per mile, while the rate on the Great Northern for a load of 240 tons was a farthing and a halt per ton per mile. The proposed line would therefore earn 10d per mile at the re duced rate, or £6 Ils 8d per train on a distance of 176 miles, more than would be earned by carrying only 240 tons in a train at three-eighths of a penny per ton per mile. This proposal would have reduced the cost of carriage upon coal by is 4d per ton between Doncaster and the eastern part of London, which was a wholly distinct district of the metro polis:from that which was reached by the Great Northern at King's-cross, so that there could be no competition for this traffic, as it would cost 2s per ton to bring the coal from the Great Eastern district to that served by the Great Northern, and vice versa. The advantage of cheap fuel would therefore be entirely confined to the large district served by the Great Eastern, effecting a reduction in the price of coals to the consumer of 3s 4d per ton as com pared with the cost of being compelled to receive their coals from King's-cross, The population of the eastern dis trict was estimated at 600,000 persons, and the probable annual supply of coal by the Great Eastern at 1,000,000 tons. The saving on this commodity alone would have been £166,660 as compared with the same amount of coal carried to the same district by the Great Northern route. The statement also referred to the great advantages that would be derived from the proposed direct communication between the Great Eastern agricultural district, served by 600 miles of railway, and the great railways in the manufacturing and mining districts, COUNTRY MARKETS. COLCHESTER—JUNE 18. -rtean vi ° C At this corn exchange to-day there was a small 15— s wheat, and last week's rates advanced is per qr. "" at former prices, No peas at market. nQ 3% 3 Wheat, white. 42s 46s Beans, Mazagan .. , :'. B 366 red 3Bs 42s middle & 5ma11.323 380 Barley Oats .... :. 20s 25s grey 340 NORTHAMPTON—JuAn 18. White wheat, new, 38s to 40s ; new red, 35s to 38 , , g; old, 58s to 40s per qr. Barley, new malting, 34s to 366 0 , grinding, 26s to 33 0 per q r . O a t s , 19 s t o 30 s p e r 24 st ° ' ,,, Beans, 34s to 36:3. Peas, 32s to 36s per qr. GLOUCESTER—JUNE 18. 2 , froro, There was a fair supply of Engli s h w h e at ta-aay frog the farmers, which sold readily at the extreme prices.th• last week. Foreign wheat in more general demand, g l ut ,. out change in value. Barley, beans, and oats w ere altered. CHELMSFORD—Jurtn 17. ke 6 i We had a fair s h ow o f w h ea t on o ff er a t this raar week's pic e to-day, and th e t ra d e was fi rm at i s over l as t wee,. an for best sorts, b u t no t muc h d o i ng. S pr i ng c orn 610 w) prices the same as last week. Wheat, old white 30s 45s new 43s 47s old red 346 37s new 36s 40s Barley 25s 33s Chevalier 26s 36s Grinding 20s 28s Malt.... Chevalier . ..... ,64s 68s Oats 2os 26s - _ Peas, Partridge... . „3 360 s ,; White .... . . 30s 0 1: . Bei .... 380 4.-- Dun ... ... ............ ... 3 10 .35r3 Ditto new ...... .--s Beans, Tick, old ..34s s°o new.. -0 -70 , 1/ Harrow Ticks .•34s Su new.. tl M azagan .......280 333 KIRKCALDY GRAIN—JUNE 18. i nark t We had fair suppli es o f a ll ki nds o f gra in a t the es" to-day, which sold a t th e pr i ces of last wee k, with ception of oats, Gd per qr up. Wheat. Barley. Oats. First....34 s Od I 24s Od I 17s ( Id, Second ..36siOd 26s Gd 17s 61 ' Third ....38s Od —8 Od 19s 6d Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton. .... via Marseilles .......... J 1 1? 5. ) Lirazil and Cape Verds, by British packet........ 29 Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena.. China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton , ' _ via Marseilles ...._ _....... _ _ Falkland Islands ........ ... Gibraltar, via Southampton .-- India (Calcutta), and Ceyl on , v i a S ou thampton• •'.. T„„ -- ,.. c 21. via Mai seilles .. • . Ju n- 06 ' India (Bombay), via South ampton June ''.• via Marseilles . .... ... JalY u. 5. Portuga 1.... Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton....... June e - 5 -. via Marseilles Newfoundland Oporto and Vigo T J Ju n e 5 .2 ... U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.... 11 by U.S. packet.... , ~ by Canadian packet. June 11 All parts of "West Indies, including Chili , ........ : .. 0 : .. California. and British Columbia.. .............. June 2S. I RATHER A SHARP FROST. —Daring the last winter the Niagara Falls are said to have been completely of man, For frozen over, for the first time in h the memory 24 hours it was safe walking were usually flow e d au Fes' petuous flood. Births. HAcoN .—On the 1 9th inst., at 69, Gl ouces t er -terrace, Hyde-park, the wife of W. M. Hacon, Esq., of a son. HOBART.-Ou the 20th inst , at Wimbledon, the wife o f the Hon. Charles Edward Hobart, of a son. M`HAE.--On the 18th inst., at Croydon, Mrs. Jas. WllllB' of a son. Marriages. PRILLIPSI—PLOUD.—O n the 18th inst., at St. Georg'st Hanover-square, William James Phill4l, son of 14 9 . Phillips, Esq., of 61, B e l grave - roa d, to Ellen F1. 0114 ' daughter of the late Henry Scott Floud, Esq., of With'' combs House, Devon. WALSH,—FERRERS.—On the 15th inst., at Chiddingstonil, Kent, Frederick Henry Walsh, Esq., late 7Bth Highl anders, to the Right Hon. Augusta Anna belle Countess Ferrers. Deaths. CURETON.—On the 17th inst., at his residence, WestburY! Shropshire, the Rev. William Cureton, D.D. canon °I "Westminster, and rect or o f S t. M argaret ' s , aged 56. CHITTENDEN.--On. the 19th inst., Andrew Chittencle n, Esq., of 12, St. John's-terrace, Regent's-park, formerly of Bolney, Sussex, aged 75. DRAPER.—On the 17th inst., at Silver-street, Enfie ld ' Mr. Henry Draper, aged 80. Eltgli.lNE,—On the 18th inst., at 108, Gloucester-Pla ce ' P ortman -square, Henry D. Erskine. eldest son of the late Hon. Henry David Erskine, Dean of Ripon. LANCE. —On the 18th inst., at Sunny side New Brigh ton, Cheshire, George Lance, Eq., of Osnaburgh-terrset'' Regent's-pa r k, aged 62. SCHOLEFIELD.—On the 16th inst., at Hyde, Isle of Willt", Joshu a , second survivin g son of the late Joshua Scho 0 field, Esq , M.P., aged 53. London : Prlnzed and Pr Wished by WILLIAM ANDREWS of No. 112 , Strand, Printer, at THE SUN olnCl e Strand, in the P rec i nc t of the Savoy, , n the Co w 'r ' Of Aritidlegez.—Tuesday, June 21,1884,